"OK, here's our rules. We're going to split into a few groups. I want you to stay at least within yelling distance of the other groups. We're going to try to begin getting a handle on the ants outside of the nest. I will lead one group, Rachel will lead one group, and Beth will lead one group. Distribute yourselves among the three of us."

As the remaining five people split among the three team leads, Beth turned to her mother and asked, "Leading a group? Are you going to be alright?"

"Despite what you may think, I know a thing or two about taking care of myself, daughter of mine. I'm more worried about you. No reckless antics out here, understand me, young lady?" her mother responded.

"Yeah, yeah. I understand," Beth said with a roll of her eyes. She had fought more and grown more than anyone else, but her mom was still nagging her.

Seemingly to no one's surprise, Andy and Chris grouped with Zack while Jessica and John grouped with Rachel. This left Sabs with Beth, a situation clearly not at all manufactured by the newly smitten girl.

The groups split up, with Zack and Rachel's groups heading east toward the road and a few adjoining houses, while Beth and Sabs first went north. The other two groups were heading to clear out level two and one ants in the zone east of the nest and would likely be occupied in that area hunting and killing the rest of the afternoon. Sabs and Beth went after the two level-threes first before they would head into the level two area.

"Let's split the work. The faster we go through each group, the better," Beth said.

"You're the boss," Sabs replied.

Beth led off in attacking the level three ants, drawing her sword and walking a couple steps in front of Sabs. When the ants charged the two, they did so in the typical single file. When the first ant reached Beth, she began fighting it with sweeping cuts of her sword. Sabs darted around her and slashed the second ant as it came into range, splitting one of its eyes immediately.

Beth stepped forward into the first ant, swinging downward with a heavy force. The end of her sword tore through the front of the ant's face and it scuttled back. Continuing her momentum as the first ant retreated, Beth turned and stepped to her left, bringing her sword up and across the second ant's face. The swing didn't do very much damage, but Sabs took advantage of the distraction to jam both her knives into the neck of the beast, ending its life with a twist.

Beth fended off the first ant from a renewed charge with a wide swing, taking a step back and preparing to strike forward. Sabs, at the same time, circled around the ant, looking for an opening. Beth stepped forward as Sabs circled behind the ant, chopping into the already damaged beast's head. As her blade smashed a section of chitin off the ant's face, Sabs darted in from the side, slamming both kukri into the ant's thorax. She then took a large step to her right, dragging the daggers down nearly the whole length of the ant.

Ichor spewed out of the ant as it wobbled, and Beth stepped forward with another heavy overhand swing, smashing apart the ant's head and killing it. Beth checked around to make sure no other threats were inbound while Sabs pulled out a rag she had grabbed passing through the Bells’ backyard to clean her blades.

"Feel like you got much experience from that?" Beth asked.

"It's hard to tell. It's just like this small, vague feeling. I'm sure you know. It felt like doing a good bit to kill both those definitely got me some progress," Sabs replied, running her hand through her hair.

"Let's go work through some level twos. You fight, I'll help if you need it."

"Sounds good."

The two set out northeast so as not to stray too far from the rest of the hunting group. They followed Beth's plan, finding groups of level two ants at the edge of the seeming divide between level threes and level twos. Sabs was strong enough to take these groups out without Beth stepping in, though she did take a cut the left forearm from a poorly aimed slice that let the ant get its mandible into her.

After a little under two hours, Sabs had hit level two and gained at least one skill level in the process. Beth had also gained a skill level in Identify, which apparently took some time to level. Happy with their progress, Beth led them westward.

"Should we go so far from the group?" Sabs asked.

"It should be fine. I explored this area, including part of the dungeon, alone. We're still not too far away," Beth replied.

Sabs nodded and followed Beth. Her goal was the remaining level three ant grouping, but this time with Sabs tackling it. It might not be enough to get her to level three, but it would be really close. She also wanted to stick close to the nest in case any higher-level ants wandered out.

As they approached the last group of level threes, Beth gestured at them and said, "They're all yours."

"Alone?" Sabs asked, eyes widening slightly.

"I'll play support here. The experience will be good. Plus, I believe you can do this. Easy," Beth replied, stepping forward and bumping her shoulder against Sabs'.

"Alright. I've got this," She replied, nodding and taking a deep breath. She returned the shoulder bump with a bright smile, then focused in on the ants. She strode forward with her daggers out, slowing as she came within range of the ants.

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The ants charged in single file, as always, and Sabs readied herself, bending her knees slightly and holding her daggers in front of herself, elbows bent, in a guard position. When the first ant was right in front of her, Sabs made a series of quick slashes with both of her daggers. The ant ignored these slashes as it attempted to get under her guard and grab her leg, but Sabs' DEX was now too high to be outmaneuvered by a level three ant. Her slashes landed at or very close to where she aimed, cutting both the ant's eyes to ribbons.

Sabs danced back as the ant began flailing around, able to easily avoid the now blind creature. The second ant had some difficulty rounding the first, but as soon as it managed the feat, it was greeted by the cold glint of steel. The blade sliced through a section of the left side of the ant's head, lopping off the left mandible along with a chunk of chitin. Ichor spewed out of the wound, but before it even hit the ground, the second dagger was chopping off a section of the ant's head. As soon as the second cut was complete the third strike landed, and the fourth, and the fifth. Within a few seconds, the ant's head had been reduced to a ruined mess, and it fell dead.

With a few quick steps and a well-timed double stab, Sabs closed on the second ant and sliced into its neck, nearly decapitating it with the two cuts. The first of the group fell dead as well, both ants cut to ribbons by her daggers. She staggered back a step, panting, and bent forward slightly, hands on her knees. Beth walked up beside her and patted her on the back with her left hand before giving Sabs' back a gentle rub.

"Good job, that was pretty impressive," Beth commented.

"Hah, thanks," Sabs replied, starting to recover. "I didn't think I would be able to kill both of them like that without help."

"You're tougher than you think," Beth replied, still with her hand on Sabs' back.

"Thanks. You're pretty great, yourself," Sabs responded before brushing her shoulder against Beth's.

"Let's head over to the nest for a little. We should see if another level four came up, and we could camp there a while and stop any other ants from coming out," Beth said, giving Sabs' back another quick rub before dropping her hand and turning toward the nest.

The two headed back to the nest and looked to make sure there wasn't another level four present, even climbing to the top of the outer ramp and checking the entrance. Sabs got the dungeon notification for stepping over the lip of the top of the nest, and asked Beth if she had gotten something similar. Beth confirmed it was the same message, and the two climbed back down the outer ramp.

Beth led them over to the edge of the copse where there was a big chunk of rock. The two sat side-by-side, watching the nest and waiting for anything to show up. The two waited for a little before starting to chat aimlessly.

"When do you think we'll be going back to school?" Sabs asked.

"I think it might be a while. It's going to take a while for things to get figured out, and things are going to get worse. The amount of mana across the whole planet is going to go up for a while, which means stronger monsters and more weird stuff," Beth answered.

"How do you know all that?"

"People have been talking online about it. Just the past couple days they've been trying to figure stuff out. It's just a guess, but I think it's the most accurate," Beth replied.

"That really sucks. I wonder if it'll be difficult to get together with friends as well," Sabs mused.

"I think it depends on a lot of things. One of the easiest ways to make sure you can do what you want is to get strong. You're already doing a good job there," Beth stated.

"I really hope so. What about you? What's your goal?" Sabs turned to Beth, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I want to see how far I can go," Beth answered, leaning back and staring across the field. "I want to try to get as far as I possibly can, to see what's at the end of the Path. There're things I want to do, and reasons I want to get there, but just saying I want to be stronger, you get that, right?"

"Yeah, I get you. I want to be able to do what I want. That's never really changed. Now that the world's all crazy, it's going to be harder. But there's new ways to get there," Sabs leaned back as well, slightly leaning against Beth's right side. Beth returned the lean a little, and the two sat together, watching the nest and the area beyond.

Sometime later, the rest of the group came back, using the nest as a point of reference. When everyone had gathered, the girls hopped up and followed the group back into the neighborhood.

The next two days proceeded in much the same manner, with Beth helping take a large number of people out to at least get them level one. Despite the talk of rotations for most people, Beth couldn't help but notice Sabs showing up again on Wednesday to group up with her.

The ant population had been greatly curtailed and, at the Thursday morning meeting, it was decided that everyone would help with the wall efforts. Beth decided that helping dig a ditch or build a fence wasn't exactly furthering her plans. In fact, her plans to get stronger would actually be more help to the neighborhood than digging a ditch would be; at least, that was her stance on the matter.

As the meeting closed out, Beth trotted up the street amidst a group going to start on the wall work again. At some point at the end of the neighborhood, she broke off from the group and headed for her house. Slipping around to the backyard, she made sure she had all her equipment ready. Besides the sword, boots, and gloves, she also had grabbed a heavy water bottle that she could hook on her belt and an LED flashlight she could slide in her pocket.

Beth set out through the woodlot, heading for the nest. It took her a handful of minutes, but she reached the nest without having to fight any weaker ants, having only seen one. She was determined to explore deeper today and knew that it was likely all the level fours were back. Looking up to the top of the ramp, she saw that she was spot on, as a large ant stood there.

Beth interlaced her fingers and flexed her hands, cracking her knuckles. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, getting focused. She approached the foot of the ramp that led to the top of the nest and drew her sword, focusing on the ant at the top as she started her climb. Identify.

Common Ant Level 4

She approached the replacement guardian, and it charged her before she was more than two steps up the ramp. She held her sword ready as she continued walking, swinging just as the ant came within range. She smashed the sword into the side of the ant's head and, as the ant staggered from the blow, stepped forward again. Swinging again as she took the forward step, she mashed the left side of the ant's head into pulp. Seeing no message, she swung a third time, the sword embedding three-quarters of the way through the ant's head.

Common Ant Level 4 slain.

Swords Apprentice[1] acquired.

"Damn nice!" Beth exclaimed, elated at the level in the weapon skill. After having used her sword almost exclusively the last three days as she helped with the hunter training, the payoff of a level in the skill felt really good. Beth wrenched the blade out of the paste that remained of the beast's head and wiped it quickly with a cloth.

She moved up the ramp and stopped for a moment, making sure that nothing was coming after her, either from the surrounding area or the nest. Assured of that, she moved down into the dungeon and began her first full-clear attempt. She worked her way through the level four ants on the first floor, being careful to not get badly injured as she went. Even with her care, she did take some damage, mainly to her jeans, cursing at losing another pair. Looking more closely, maybe they could be saved, but she wasn't quite sure.

She encountered level five ants on the second floor down, finding them slightly tougher than the previous batch. She had to rely on her one attack ability in the end, as her sword wasn't really quite cutting it anymore. She could still damage them with her blade, but it was becoming tougher to deal meaningful harm to the level fives with her current weapon. She eventually killed the first of the level five ants, getting several pleasant notifications in the process.

Common Ant Level 5 slain.

Crush Copper[5] acquired.

Level 5 acquired.

Pain Tolerance Copper[5] acquired.

Beth couldn't help a massive grin spreading across her face. She could feel the new level of strength in her body, feeling better than she ever had before. She stretched languidly, hearing and feeling her back, hips, and even sternum crack slightly. She felt even better after the stretch and started thinking about what to do with her new stat points. She wanted to keep everything balanced, but she knew her stats were still fairly even at the moment.